2023-10-21 22:01:41
The black series continues. Inexorably. Saturday afternoon, in a half-empty Marcel-Cerdan sports center in Levallois – and far from the excited atmospheres of last season where Wembanyama and Co electrified the crowds – the Metropolitans lost (81-87) against Blois, direct opponent for maintenance, during the 8th day of Betclic Élite. Their 8th loss of the season.
A sad first in the history of the club. He had never experienced such a start to a campaign. We have to go back to the 2017-2018 season to find the trace of a start to the championship which is close… a little. At the time the club was still called Paris-Levallois, its coach was Fred Fauthoux and Boris Diaw had come to do his last dance… After a record of 6 losses in 8 days, the “PL” quickly straightened out the bar.
This time the situation seems much more worrying. However, Laurent Foirest’s players believed they had their first success. Carried by an Axel Toupane returning from injury and hungry, the Mets lead the debates at the start of the match. Widely. At the start of the third quarter, their lead was 17 lengths (52-35, 21st).
But while they had their subject under control, the Mets turned out the light. And Blois, led by his squad of young players – including Armel Traoré who was one of the executioners of his former team with 15 points and 6 rebounds – turned the situation around in 8 minutes (60-64, 29th). “We stopped playing, we stopped passing the ball and behind us we had an avalanche,” regrets the coach. We took timeouts, we changed the players but it didn’t change anything. With our current lack of confidence, we started to doubt… There is frustration because I think we could have won this match. We can do things we couldn’t do before. But when we train with 10, as has been the case for two weeks, that changes the situation. »
Despite a burst of pride at the end of the match (78-80, 39th), the Mets will not manage to regain control. Nor to achieve their first success. A new disillusionment for the French vice-champion club which remains stuck in last place in the championship and whose future in Elite seems to be hanging by a thread…
Changes are to be expected in the squad by the next day in 15 days at the promoted Chalon-sur-Saône (the reception of the Portel, initially scheduled for next Saturday, has in fact been postponed to November 7 due to the unavailability of the room). Will coach Laurent Foirest – who inherited an unstable situation when he arrived this summer – still be on the bench at that time?
This 8th day of the championship was also the setting for the heated Ile-de-France derby between Nanterre and Paris Basketball. A top-of-the-table clash between two of the three runners-up from Monaco. But the duel was cut short. The fault lies with the untenable Parisians, unleashed and galvanized after their misstep against Le Portel last week who quickly took control of the match and never let go (67-98). This is the first defeat of the season for the Nanterrians on their floor.
A real correction! A transfer of power between Nanterre – the last Ile-de-France club to have won the title of French champion (in 2013) – and Paris – which dreams of adding its name to the list of winners.
While Nanterre never managed to adjust the sights for its long-range skill (6 successful shots out of 23) – yet one of its strong points – the Parisians were once again able to count on their conductor DJ Shorts (18 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds) and winger Tyson Ward (18 points, 5 rebounds) to start their 6th success in the championship.
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